the LA times

[sh]

www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-blackwill-israel-20111031,0,7160803.story

Try not to die laughing.

-f

[karlsie]

Cats regurgitate to get rid of hair balls. Politicians regurgitate to make their statements feel a little more palatable, but i really think they need to change their diet. This was as palatable as selling air conditioning in Antarctica.

[grainnerhuad]

Usually I like reading other people's love letters, but this was just gross.

[sh]

www.latimes.com/health/boostershots/la-heb-sexual-satisfaction-age-20120103,0,834747.story

This is just.. there are no words.

Is this "science?"

-f

[karlsie]

It seems to me that mental health experts could find more to do with their time than figuring out the best ages for hitting on a woman's sexuality. America is so engrossed in voyeurism. Once i close my bedroom door, it's nobody's damned business what i do behind it!

[sh]

articles.latimes.com/2012/jan/04/nation/la-na-navajo-hiv-20120105

-f

[karlsie]

They don't tell the whole story of the suffering Navajo nation. For decades, the tribe has been exposed to Uranium mine poisoning. The neglect suffered by chronic poverty has been augmented by a concerted effort to keep American tribes from profiting on their reservations.

[sh]

How can people turn a blind eye to all this and more? How??

-f

[karlsie]

Sh, i have no idea why there is this abysmal failure to treat the First People with respect, but it's a chronic condition in the Americas. I think that part - or maybe, much of this has to do with the refusal of the indigenous people to fully integrate colonialism. They refuse to adopt a winner-loser mentality. Even among the highly skilled, there is a tendency to suppress their abilities around those who might be embarrassed because they aren't quite as gifted. In other words, they will not compete, but see each person as important to the smooth functioning of their villages.

They will not change their cultural customs, which have little regard to overt materialism. Everything is shared. If you own a large house in a Native village, be prepared for overflow guests to sleep on your living room floor. They are the ultimate in environmentalism. Their lives are naturally low-impact, yet the first drastic changes due to environmental pollution by over-development impacts the villages first. Even though the majority have become Christian, they do not give up their Native American spirituality and still practice spirit dances, meditative sweats and holistic healing.

America would do better to incorporate Native American views than trying to change them.

[sh]

Karla, I personally feel that the treatment of Native Americans as we see it, is because of the basic underlying intent which the US was founded upon.

The US was created by genocide.

In pretty much all of the Americas, Indians are treated like dogs, IMO. They have not only lost their countries, but their culture and their heritage has also been completely wiped out.

Alcoholism is, IMO, one of the biggest problems in Native American communities today.

These people have nothing. And they don't even have a chance to become anything. They were conquered and forced into submission, a long time ago.

I'm sure you know about the mass extermination campaigns and relocation programs that were aimed at certain Indian tribes in Mexico about a hundred years ago.

Entire villages were shipped off to work as slaves on plantations. Most of them worked there until they died, wishing they could see their homeland just one more time.

I'm sure you know that there are plenty of 12 year old Indian/mestizo girls working as prostitutes in countries like Ecuador, Peru, etc. because many American/European tourists go there just for that purpose. These girls get payed $5 for sex, at most. Most of them are willing to do anything for $2.

The truth is, this is just the tip of the iceberg. The barbarities that have been committed against Native Americans are just unspeakable. And there really isn't a whole lot that is unspeakable for me.

-f

[karlsie]

Sh, you have a wonderful awareness of a race that is generally kept painfully under wraps for the public. Some of the atrocities committed against the First People are revealed, but your knowledge is the intimate one of careful study.

Throughout my youthful years, i harbored a resentment against my Colonial great-grandfather who took two wives; a proper German lady and my Pawnee great-grandmother. I wasn't resentful that he had two wives; after all he was a Mennonite developing a homestead in Kansas and needed all the free help he could get. I was resentful because my side was the "illegitimate" one, not recognized on legal documents and not entitled to an inheritance. A Native American friend told me, "we can't change the injustices of the past. Let them pass over. Let's only be the justice of today."

The Native people of today do not worry about past wrong doing, but they do wish to present themselves for who they are now, without persecution and discrimination. They have drawn that line that says, "this is as much as we incorporate your doctrines. If you want us to become one with you, cross the bridge and become more of one with us." It may be unrealistic. It may be idealistic, but we will not change.

[sh]

I'm glad you agree, Karla.

What I can now add is that, IMO, what happened to the Native Americans was basically a result of contact with our culture.

The white man's culture, which I have traced back to the Ariyans, is the most warlike, aggressive and devastating culture I know of on earth today.

We enslaved the African man. We destroyed the Aboriginal Australians. We destroyed the Native Americans.

Any culture we have come into contact with, we have reduced to a shameful state. We have no concept of co-existence. Only domination.

I'm sure you know of the Opium Wars.

What I have to say about this is, that in a country like Iran and Afghanistan, where people have been using Opium for thousands of years, there exists a relatively benign and balanced symbiotic relationship between people and this plant.

But in a country like China, where the vast majority of people had never experienced such a thing, the introduction of Papaver somniferum proved extremely destructive. The entire social order nearly collapsed as a result of this, IMO.

The British used this as a means of subduing the Chinese.

There is something very wrong with our culture, IMO. We shouldn't be allowed to go near other people!

IMHO, the Aztecs were a warlike people, no doubt. But next to the Spaniards, they were a gentle, spiritual people!

It all started with the Persians conquering the known world. Why? who knows. Then the Greeks did it. Then the Romans and later the Spanish and the British. And today the US of A is still at it!

-f

[karlsie]

Ha ha. Now you are starting to sound a bit like Malcolm X, who had some very dark things to say about white war mongers. While much of our behavior is influenced by environment, we still have genetic traits that comprise our personalities. Theoretically, if you are raised in a non-violent environment, your actions will be that of a non-violent person, but i often wonder... is there a gene for violent behavior? Can violence be so incorporated into the DNA memory banks, that it ruthlessly shows its face no matter how gentle the upbringing? Or is it that conquest has been bred into certain races for so long, they can't think of being any other way?

I hesitate. There are countries with long histories of atrocity and ruthless aggression; the Germans, the English, and lately the Colonialist driven Americans, most notably. But when i look around me, i see many Norwegians, Scots, French and even some English who have happily incorporated cross-cultural references and married into the Native American tribes. I don't count the Germans, however, because even when they marry a Native American, they act like they've done a favor and they are usually terribly mean. Of all the white races, the Irish have been the most accepted and integrate the easiest. I think they retained a certain amount of purity in their Celtic origins.

As i've said before, even the Russians live quite harmoniously within our communities. I think the Russians are vastly misunderstood. They have a conqueror mentality, no doubt, but at the same time, they are driven by idealism. Alaskan Natives actually fared better under the Russians than when Alaska was sold to the US. They were hired and paid by fur traders. Schools and churches were built and the Natives invited to attend them, but they weren't forced. Intermarriage was common. When the US bought Alaska, they paid the fur traders far less than what the Russians had paid them. During the initial gold stampede, quick towns were erected with "keep out" signs for the Native populace.

This, however, didn't last long. The Alaskan Natives were already educated by the Russians by the time the Americans came along. They found allies among the pioneers whose purpose was for settling, not to rape the land of its resources. Native representatives were voted in and Native rights were enacted. We still have a long way to go. The oil years caused some major disruptions in our natural progression to our own culture, and there is a lot of selfishness among the "entitled" who came up here to reap the benefits of oil, just as there was among those who came here to reap the benefits of gold. The good news is that in recent years, we've attracted a lot of Koreans, Japanese, Chinese, Samoans and Hispanics who decided they like it just fine here and wish to make it their home. We'll incorporate them and make our voice stronger.

[sh]

They say that Romulus and Remus were the sons of Mars, the god of war.

I believe we who are the descendents of Rome today, still worship the god of war, without being consciously aware of it.

I can't say if this is a good thing or bad. If it is our fate to destroy all life on this planet, then so be it I say.

-f

[sh]

When I see the way the Spaniards defeated the Aztecs, I realize that the Spaniards were favoured by Mars.

I also know that the Aztecs saw and knew that Huitzilopochtli was against them. They knew they had no chance.

The Spaniards on the other hand, didn't know anything, IMO.

I realize this is starting to sound very much like some useless mumbo jumbo. But Huitzilopochtli is real, nevertheless.

The god of war was the patron god of the city of Tenochtitlan. And the Aztecs raised their children to be warriors. Warriorship was what the majority of Aztec boys aspired to, IMO. And Huitzilopochtli had favoured them over all others until Cortes arrived. Then he betrayed them.

I don't know what conclusion I'm trying to get at really, or if there even is a conclusion.. But I see that Mars has favoured the US over all others for some time now, yet this is never permanent.

Just so there's no confusion. I think the western culture of today is based on the worship of the god of war. This is the big flaw that I see in our culture, and our society.

I think you guys would find it unbelievable that bullying is practically non-existent in schools in Iran. The whole concept is unknown. Very few children ever feel like they need to humiliate other kids. And if a kid bullies another child, the norm is that other kids will always interfere and stop him if they happen to be around. The "bully" is usually just lightly mocked and made fun of.

This behavior changes somewhat after kids graduate from the school era of their lives, but still, bullying in the sense of what happens constantly in western schools, is unheard of.

I was bullied by a whole "gang" of cool kids when I was 11, in the fifth grade. They even went so far as to spread a rumor that I was gay. ;D All in all, they made my year miserable because I was basically "boycotted" by pretty much every kid at school. Everyone felt like the cool kids would think less of them if they hung out with me. They felt like the cool kids would actually start picking on them too, if they were seen with me.

One time for example, someone took some hockey cards and a novel out of two different kids' backpacks and put them in mine. When the kids reported their belongings missing to the teachers, Mrs. Nichols and Mr. Johnson, an anonymous whistleblower also informed them that they had seen f, me, taking some stuff out of other kids' bags. The teachers ganged up on me and asked to search my bag, upon which the stolen items were discovered.

No one ever realized that I hadn't done it. No one cared. And this pattern continued for the entire year, until near the end, I was essentially the most despised kid in school. I was famous. Everyone knew who I was and I was hated by all. And most of the time, I had no idea why.

Another time, a really cute 4th grader, Heather, started hanging out with me. After a week or so, she told me that she didn't believe any of the things other kids said about me and that she really meant this. Then a few days later, she just started totally avoiding me like she didn't even know me at all. Another kid, Justin, told me that everyone was saying that I had AIDS!

So, I basically spent that whole year going to school every day, isolated from all but one autistic kid, David.

The truth is, I had done absolutely nothing to "deserve" this. I couldn't even realize why they were doing the things they were doing. I couldn't conceive of what might be motivating them.

Today I know that it was Huitzilopochtli acting on those children.

I want to emphasize, that in the west the feeling is that this pattern of behavior is normal. Many parents actually encourage their kids to beat up other kids. And again, this pattern of behavior is unheard of in Iran. No child here is ever made to feel left out. Measures have been taken to ensure that this never happens.

I believe feelings such as "alienation" from society, as felt by many teens and young adults in the US, is also unheard of in Iran, as far as I can see. Everyone here seems to be very eager to go and be with society, everyone has a very large circle of friends and family around them no matter what.

I would say that in my neighborhood, there are hundreds of young boys. All these young men know eachother either directly, or through someone else. Girls however aren't in the habit of hanging out in the neighborhood, so they have their own circle, which is different than the boys, and yet very similar. (Girls don't hang out in the streets like boys do, but they do go out freely in Tehran.)

In rural areas of Iran, families are usually composed of a grandmother and grandfather, their sons and unmarried daughters, and their grandchildren, all living in a large house. Each family has their own quarters in the house. All quarters are connected to a yard in the middle.

Each of these "big houses" might have as many as 20 people living in them. These people are pretty much always together.

During the day, the whole settlement or town is almost devoid of men, who are either out in the desert or working in the city.

The women are usually mingling with the neighbours. Gossiping and what-not. They mostly spend the days helping eachother out, whether with cooking or cleaning or with the children.

The small children are left pretty much free to come and go as they please. But once they reach a certain age, during the summer the boy goes with his father, and the girl with his mother. During the school year, kids go to school in the morning and spend their afternoons with their parents.

The men in the fields and orchards follow pretty much the same pattern as the women. They help out another man one day, and another day that man helps them. Aside from work, the men usually sit around fires in small groups and smoke opium or hasheesh and just chit-chat. They usually disband and head for home when it gets dark.

Before dusk, all the women are back in their own houses, to spend the evening and the night with their husbands.

This same pattern used to exist in Tehran and other big cities, but in a more urban style. Today, the lifestyle in big cities has evolved, yet I still see the same flavour to it as before.

I really hope that this doesn't sound like resentment against the west because I was bullied as a child. I also hope it doesn't sound like I'm taking Iran's side. I can honestly say that I have forgiven those children from the 5th grade. I hold no ill will against them, and I hold no ill will against the US.

-f